What's
New -- CSPI Press Releases

November 13, 1996

CONTACT: Caroline Smith
DeWaal 202/332-9110, ext. 366

DINERS BEWARE

National Study Rates Regulation of
Restaurant Food Safety

Most states and localities do not meet the restaurant food safety standards set by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA), according to a nationwide study released today by the nonprofit
Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Caroline Smith DeWaal, CSPI's director of food
safety, said, "Weak, poorly enforced state and local regulations result in millions of cases of food
poisoning -- and several thousand deaths -- each year."

CSPI's study, Dine at Your Own Risk: The Failure of Local Agencies to Adopt and Enforce
National Food Safety Standards for Restaurants, indicates that thousands of restaurants are not
required to follow basic food safety standards, such as cooking and refrigeration temperatures.

Dine at Your Own Risk compares the restaurant food safety requirements of 45 states, cities, and
counties against 12 key FDA standards. Of the 45 jurisdictions surveyed, the jurisdictions with
the best record -- adopting 11 of the standards -- are Rhode Island and Concord, NH. Bernalillo
County, NM (including Albuquerque) and Chicago follow close behind with 10.

The jurisdiction with the worst record is Delaware, which adheres to a mere three of the FDA
standards. Seven others follow only four: Dallas; Detroit; Portland (ME); and San Francisco; and
the counties of Atlantic, NJ; Jefferson, KY (includes Louisville); and Jackson, MO.

Not a single jurisdiction surveyed has adopted all 12 of the FDA standards, and the average city
or state has adopted only half of them. The standards include such requirements as the following:
refrigerate food at 41 degrees; cook pork to an internal temperature of 155 degrees; inspect
restaurants at least twice a year; and post warnings alerting consumers to the dangers of eating
certain foods raw.

States, counties, and cities should adopt the FDA's most up-to-date standards, according to Don
Schaffner, Ph.D., of Rutgers University's Department of Food Science. Said Schaffner, who
spoke at the CSPI press conference: "The food safety standards in the FDA Food Code represent
the best nationwide consensus on how restaurants should handle food to keep it safe. To protect
the health of consumers, restaurant inspection agencies should be enforcing the most recent
version of the code."

CSPI's report noted that some restaurants have adopted strong procedures of their own to protect
their patrons' health. At the press conference, CEO Roger Berkowitz of Legal Sea

Foods, Inc, which operates 13 East Coast restaurants, said, "Consumers today -- in greater
numbers than ever before -- depend on the restaurant industry to provide them and their families
with a safe dining experience. It is our responsibility to fulfill the trust and confidence they are
placing in us. A commitment to food safety takes time and effort, and while it's not inexpensive, it
certainly is good business.

"Our Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System (HACCP) begins at the fish pier and our
seafood processing plant and extends into all Legal Sea Foods restaurants. It involves intensive
monitoring of food throughout all phases of operations."

Despite what some restaurants do, the overall problem remains acute. "The FDA should be doing
far more to ensure that local health departments are adopting its Model Food Code for restaurant
safety," said DeWaal, who co-authored the study with Staff Attorney Elizabeth Dahl.

Dahl added, "Consumers are twice as likely to report food poisoning caused by restaurant food as
by food prepared at home. And with more consumers eating out than ever before, the number of
illnesses and deaths is likely to rise, unless restaurants and the government agencies that regulate
them do a better job of promoting food safety."

Michael Jacobson, executive director of CSPI, said, "Consumers shouldn't have to play Russian
Roulette when they go out to eat. Diners should be outraged that their local health department is
not adhering to each and every FDA standard aimed at preventing food poisoning."

CSPI's study applauds two other chains and one small-town restaurant -- Taco Bell, Jack in the
Box, and That's Amore (Hale's Corners, WI) -- for taking voluntary actions to prevent food
poisoning. Jack in the Box's record is especially noteworthy because in 1993 a deadly outbreak of
E. coli bacteria was traced to contaminated hamburgers served in that chain's outlets.

Some of the study's most important findings include:

Only 13 percent of the agencies surveyed enforce the FDA Food Code's recommended
cooking temperatures for pork, eggs, fish, and poultry; only 64 percent require that
hamburgers be cooked to 155 degrees, the temperature necessary to destroy the deadly form
of E. coli in 15 seconds.

Only 11 percent of the agencies require refrigeration at the FDA's recommended temperature;
only 20 percent follow temperature recommendations for cooling cooked food.

Less than half of the agencies providing data inspect restaurants at least twice a year.

Dine at Your Own Risk contains a dozen recommendations for appropriate and effective action
that government agencies and restaurants can and should take to prevent food poisoning. Those
include better federal controls to prevent contamination of food with dangerous bacteria, and
federal funding to help states adopt and enforce FDA guidelines.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest is a nonprofit, health-advocacy organization
specializing in food safety and nutrition. CSPI campaigned for tougher meat-inspection
regulations and is well known for its studies on restaurant nutrition. The Center accepts no
government or corporate funding; it is funded largely by the 900,000 subscribers to its Nutrition
Action Healthletter.